Rocks help to include structure to landscape layouts through defining flower beds, lining walking trails and decorating sloping terrain. While rocks work well when put in the lawn intentionally, they are sometimes a nuisance if you find the soil is filled with rocks as you attempt to cultivate a new garden bed. They vary in size from large boulders to small gravel rocks, and you must employ many distinct methods to eliminate the various rocks in your lawn.
Loosen the soil with a pick ax or mattock to reveal the rocks in your lawn. While a rototiller makes it quick and easy to loosen dirt, you can damage the equipment if your lawn is filled with large rocks.
Pick medium and large rocks from the ground since you loosen the soil. Collect the rocks in buckets or a backyard cart so you can relocate them once you finish.
Dig around big boulders as you find them to determine the actual size; what resembles a rather modest boulder could be several times bigger once you eliminate the dirt.
Wedge a pry bar or digging bar under the boulder, then put a stone or block of timber under the pry bar. Pull back on the pry bar handle, using the stone or timber for a fulcrum, to lift the stone from the ground. Roll the boulder throughout the lawn, if at all possible, or continue using the pry bar to steer the stone from the lawn.
Put a huge plank across several pieces of strong iron pipe which are the same length as the plank thickness; the plank should be the biggest, thickest board you can find. Lift the big rocks onto the plank with the pry bar lever, then roll the plank onto the iron pipe. When one part of pipe comes out from the back of the plank, stop and reposition it in the front of the plank.
Boost the boulder onto chains with the pry bar lever, then wrap on the boulder securely with the chains. Hook up the chains into a tractor or truck with a tow hitch and slowly drive forward to transfer the boulder throughout the yard.
Mark straight lines throughout the boulder, then drill holes spaced about 6 inches apart along the lines with a hammer drill. Insert two metal spikes, known as feathers, in the holes and then thrust a wedge between the feathers. Pound the wedge into the stone with a hammer, forcing the feathers to split and separate the stone. Repeat with the following hole till the stone splits in multiple bits which you could carry. This is a time-consuming method which needs to be utilized as a substitute for very big boulders which you can not move with a lever, plank and pipes, or string.
Rake up any smaller rocks that remain after removing the big boulders, first having a bow rake. Pick through the dirt slowly with the bow rake to lift them from the dirt and guide them into a pile. Scoop the rocks to a bucket or lawn cart with a flat shovel.
Rake the remaining small pebbles with a broom rake, also referred to as a leaf rake. Pick up the rocks with a flat shovel when you’ve raked the pebbles to a pile. Leaving the pebbles from the dirt usually won’t cause any damage to your plants or gardening equipment and can really help improve drainage in poor soil, but you can remove them if you would like your lawn to be wholly free of rocks.
Build a square frame from two-by-fours and basic hardware cloth to the frame. Place the dirt sifter display above a wheelbarrow and dump the buckets of pebbles and smaller rocks onto the monitor. Gently shake the sifter to allow dirt to fall through the holes, while keeping the rocks on the monitor. It is possible to replace the sifted dirt in your garden beds.